Atomic Physics

Atomic Physics

In our quest to explore the emergent behaviors of interacting quantum systems, our platform of choice, more often than not, is laser cooled atoms.

Approach

Laser-cooled atoms under high-vacuum provide an exquisitely isolated platform for studies of quantum coherence. This is because such atoms are cold enough that they hardly move, and due to their high-vacuum environment, can persist unperturbed.

These pristine systems can then be used as a platform for everything from synthetic quantum materials, to the world's most precise clocks, to gravity measurements, and even first-generation quantum computers.

The picture above shows a magneto-optically-trapped cloud of Rubidium-87 atoms on the left, and a smaller cloud of atoms which has be transported away in an optical conveyor belt-- it is on its way to an optical resonator in our cavity Rydberg polariton experiment!